Established in 2006, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society. Scroll down for links to book reviews, Native media, and more.

Friday, November 04, 2016

I received a question yesterday from a librarian who wants to create a display of books for Native American Heritage Month. This post is my thoughts on one option for doing that kind of display.

Create one of a student or patron asking a question. Create one of those speech bubbles that has the question in it: "Native American?" Or "American Indian? Which one should I use?" You could replace the figure below with a photo of yourself to show that it is a question you, yourself, had, too.

Put Mission To Space by John Herrington in the display. If you have two copies (and you should!), use both. Show the cover, and, have the second copy open to this page (below). Beside it, on a poster board, call attention to the text in the book about his identity. Here's how that could look:

And here's how that same idea could look, using Cynthia Leitich Smith's Jingle Dancer:

Then you could have another poster that says something like:

"I think these writers are telling us to use the names of specific tribal nations!"

I'd like to hear from librarians, and others, about this idea. Your thoughts?

Thursday, November 03, 2016

I received a question about The Continent by Kiera Drake. Due out in January from Harlequin Teen, here's the synopsis from Amazon:

"Have we really come so far, when a tour of the Continent is so desirable a thing? We've traded our swords for treaties, our daggers for promises—but our thirst for violence has never been quelled. And that's the crux of it: it can't be quelled. It's human nature."

For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire—a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two "uncivilized" nations remain perpetually locked in combat. Most citizens lucky enough to tour the Continent do so to observe the spectacle and violence of war, a thing long banished in the Spire. For Vaela—a talented apprentice cartographer—the journey is a dream come true: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve upon the maps she's drawn of this vast, frozen land.

But Vaela's dream all too quickly turns to a nightmare as the journey brings her face-to-face with the brutal reality of a war she's only read about. Observing from the safety of a heli-plane, Vaela is forever changed by the bloody battle waging far beneath her. And when a tragic accident leaves her stranded on the Continent, Vaela finds herself much closer to danger than she'd ever imagined. Starving, alone and lost in the middle of a war zone, Vaela must try to find a way home—but first, she must survive.

Sounds awful, doesn't it? People who live in "the Spire" covet the opportunity to watch people on "the Continent" engage in bloody violence. Those two "uncivilized nations" on "the Continent" can't help it. It is their nature.

There's a lot of people tweeting about it. From what I glean, one of the "uncivilized nations" is described in ways that suggest it is Asian and that the other one is Native. If I get the book, I'll be back.

Updating on Nov 7, 2016 to add the Storify I did on the response to criticism of Drake's book:

A Native Perspective on Response to Kiera Drake's THE CONTINENT

Subtitle

I started to see conversations about Kiera Drake's The Continent on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The next day, I started a thread about what I was seeing.

My remarks, as the title for this Storify indicate, are from a Native perspective. For those who don't know who I am, I'm tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo. I'm a former schoolteacher and assistant professor in American Indian Studies. I've got a PhD in Education, and a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science. I have research and professional articles in a wide range of books, journals, and magazines. I bring all that to bear on the analyses I do of children's and young adult literature.

Justina's "great leap of logic" was about Drake using "Topi" as the name of the Indigenous nation. Change that letter T to an H an you've got Hopi. The Hopi Tribe is a federally recognized sovereign nation in Arizona.

Justina's critique drew a lot of attention, with a lot of people condemning The Continent based on her critique. There were, of course, a lot of responses from people who said those who hadn't read The Continent, or, who hadn't finished reading it, shouldn't say anything at all about it.

That response reminded me of work I did on Martina Boone's Compulsion, so I shared links to my review of it and an especially powerful comment.

The conversation about The Continent is taking place in November, which is designated--by Presidential Proclamation--as Native American Heritage Month. Overall, I think designated months (or days) for this or that are best used to share resources and SHOUT that books by Native writers should be used all year long. So, I shared some terrific books.

On Friday, I'd wondered if Little House on the Prairie was one of Drake's favorites. In her statement, Drake told us that Lord of the Rings is a favorite and that it influenced her work on The Continent:

Native writer @CyborgN8VMari used Justina's photo and two others to create a powerful image that challenges Drake's claim that she wasn't thinking of Native peoples when she created the Indigenous people in The Continent:

I pointed to a post I wrote about who you (writers/editors) hire to do vetting, or, sensitivity reads. In short: readers take your work seriously. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by getting sensitivity readers who can't, or won't, give you the critical feedback you need.

Curious, I looked back at Hooked to see if, by any chance, Wilson had been the editor of it, too. Fichera acknowledged Wilson but didn't say she was the editor. Re-reading Fichera's note, however, I decided to share this screen cap of it.

I see that Wilson was editor of HOOKED, which had problems. Oh, and this in acknowledgements from its author (Fichera): pic.twitter.com/FfdsctF3Ik

When I get my copy, I'll read and review it. As usual, I will focus on the Native content. If the publisher and Drake decide to withdraw the book, my review will still be useful to writers who are doing similar stories--or contemplating doing one.

American Indian? Or, Native American? There is no agreement among Native peoples. Both are used. It is best to be specific. Example: Instead of "Debbie Reese, a Native American," say "Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman."